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Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 321
EAN: 9780813191614
ISBN: 0813191610
Label: University Press of Kentucky
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 328
Publication Date: June 02, 2006
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Studio: University Press of Kentucky
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Editorial Review:
Borrowing the words of former Idaho senator Frank Church, one widespread notion of the Central Intelligence Agency is that it tends to behave like a "rogue elephant" rampaging out of control, initiating risky covert action programs without the sanction of either Congress or the White House. In Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, William J. Daugherty, a seventeen-year veteran operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, addresses these and other perceptions about covert action that have seeped into the public consciousness. Daugherty cites congressional investigations, declassified documents, and his own experiences in covert action policy and oversight to show convincingly that the C.I.A.'s covert programs were conducted specifically at presidential behest from the Agency's founding in 1947. He provides an overview of the nature and proper use of covert action as a tool of presidential statecraft and discusses its role in transforming presidential foreign policy into reality. He concludes by detailing how each president conducted the approval, oversight and review processes for covert action while examining specific instances in which U.S. Presidents have expressly directed C.I.A. covert action programs to suit their policy objectives.
A former Marine Corps aviator with a combat tour in Vietnam, Daugherty's first tour with the C.I.A. was in Iran, where he was one of fifty-two Americans held hostage for 444 days during the Carter administration. Daugherty combines unique inside perspectives with sober objectivity in judging the true nature and scope of C.I.A. covert actions during the last half century.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Insider Hubris and the Blinders of Denial
"Executive Secrets" reviews the history of covert action since WW2 and provides information the general reader might not have had (contrary to other reviews, there are no "secret" secrets in this book, since the author limits his examples to declassified data approved by the CIA, which eliminates much information in the public domain that the agency can not or will not acknowledge, One good recent example of the impact of this policy is the an attempt by former CIA officer Melissa Mahle to deliver ... Read More
Rating: - Secret History of Espionage Revealed
The secret history of our undisclosed espionage and covert agents who defend our liberty
Rating:  - Rigorous and Sound
Titles like this may smack of conspiracy theory, but very rarely do authors choose their own titles. A marketing team's title should not be confused with the authors' intent. In this case, a slightly flashy title fits the content--intelligence work is often duller and at the same time more exciting than its glamorous reputation.
This point is made clear by the authors of this excellent book, developed by a fine writer and made infinitely credible by an author of unquestioned expertise. ... Read More
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